Friedrich Naumann

Friedrich Naumann was a social liberal and promoted the alliance with the Social Democrats in order to create a political force able to counterbalance the conservative agrarian groups. Initially, he worked within the National-Social Association that he had founded. Later on, he played an active role in the unification of the left-wing liberal forces in the Progressive People’s Party. During World War I, he spoke out for annexations and did not criticize the genocide committed against the Armenians. His book “Central Europe” found more readers than any other publication on Germany’s war goals, despite its enormous disconnect from reality. During the November Revolution, he helped finance the “Anti-Bolshevist League”, yet distanced himself from it when it moved to the far right. He was the founding chairman of the DDP and participated in constitutional deliberations in Weimar.